Coffee Talk Lecture Series

The Hannibal Arts Council will host the first installment of a new lecture series titled Coffee Talk at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 9 at HAC, 105 S. Main St. The program is FREE and open to the public. Program partners include Wade Stables P.C., Second Breakfast Coffee Roasters and the Missouri Arts Council.

The inaugural speaker is Dr. Michael Bukstein, who will present a lecture titled Human Body Owner’s Manual: Routine Maintenance and Care (or…Your Grandmother May Have Been Right). This program is a rare opportunity to hear a highly respected surgeon and former Director of the Hannibal Clinic take us on a journey under the skin of our own body.

The Coffee Talk Lecture Series is designed to be relaxed, informal and informative. Through the Coffee Talk Lecture Series, the Hannibal Arts Council will present community members speaking on various topics, including travel, history, health, food, well-being and yes, art. The series is designed on the premise that everyone has a story and a wide variety of interests and are sometimes willing to share that with an audience.

About the lecture: The typical human being tends to ignore basic body health and maintenance, even though we inhabit an irreplaceable body. In fact, we strenuously avoid doing some of the very things most beneficial to keeping our bodies in tip top shape. Why? Dr. Michael Bukstein suggests it is because “we lack knowledge; we tend to be fearful; and we don’t know how to access the medical system.” Yet basic care can help us avoid a massive amount of problems later, if only we knew the latest medical research on maintenance, screenings, and immunizations.

Enter Dr. Bukstein with a wealth of up-to-date information on everything from screenings to obesity, vitamins, bone health, and those dreaded “shots.” Dr. Bukstein will also focus on misconceptions. “A huge element of our society thinks immunizations are risky because they are live, yet the consequences of not having them is dire.” He will also highlight early screenings often unknown to the average person. For example, “Only about ten percent of people know an early screening for lung cancer exists.” Such testing can be invaluable to smokers. Participants will be healthier, wiser, more pro-active and less fearful when showing up for the next doctor’s appointment.